Daniela Ruah was recently interviewed by her sister-in-law Sarah Wright Olsen for a new online project called “Your Zen Mama“, a blog filled with good advice about pregnancy and parenthood for new and up-and-coming mamas.

Tell us a little bit about your journey and how you’ve come to arrive here.

I was born in Boston to Portuguese parents and when I was 5 they returned to Portugal. I grew up there and at 16 was cast in the first of many ‘telenovelas’, which made me fall in love with acting and working looong hours. The work prompted me to study performing arts in college, in London. I then moved to NYC to study acting and soon after landed work in Los Angeles. I’ve been here ever since… This is where I met my hubby and eventually started my wonderful family. It’s been a fun ride- every life shift has brought wonderful things, I love change.

Who’s in your family? Ages? Names?

Daniela 32.
David 40.
River almost 3.
Sierra 2 months.

How did you choose your kids names?

I’ve always loved biblical names so I knew my kids would probably have one. Dave, on the other hand wanted something a little less conventional… So we agreed that their second name would be more traditional. We also planned on including my maiden name as one of their middle names (in Portugal we keep our mother’s name). We never really sat down and discussed our choices; we just kept adding names to our list as they resonated with us, no matter how crazy or simple they may have been. We thought we had plenty of time to think about it, but when both kids showed up at 37 weeks, they each ended up nameless for 2 days! On the way to the hospital with my first pregnancy, we narrowed down our choices to 3 combinations, and when we saw our little boys face we knew River Isaac was perfect for him.

For our daughter, I knew Esther would be her second name- after my grandmother. So we spent most of the pregnancy finding something that would work with that. David suggested ‘Sierra’ the day she was born, which wasn’t even on our list. And so, Sierra Esther was named.

Location?

Los Angeles, California

Occupation?

Actress and professional daughter, mom and wife.

What’s on your manifest board?

I want to do more with my life, take better advantage of what is available to me. Sometimes I feel like I miss out on opportunities because I procrastinate. I have a list of projects and business ideas that I really want to crack down on.

Tell us some of your most loved ways to spend the day with your clan?

Everyone cooking a meal in the kitchen, our friends and family coming over to workout- kids are running around in the back yard, music is playing, mamas nursing the younger ones. Building a tree house, road trips, a day at the beach…

You can read the full interview here.